Blog report: Alex Spanos selling a stake in the Chargers?

Longtime San Diego Chargers owner Alex Spanos may sell a stake in the team amid growing speculation it could land in Los Angeles if a stadium is built in the next several years, according to a report in NFL FanHouse.

The report, published Monday by Jon Weinbach, says: "Mark Fabiani, who has been leading the Chargers' efforts to develop a new stadium, told FanHouse that the Spanos family is looking to sell a stake in the team solely for 'estate-planning purposes.'"

The report says: "Alex Spanos, who became the club's majority owner in 1984, is now 87 years old and reportedly in poor health. He and his wife now own 36 percent of the club, while each of his four children have 15 percent stakes, and they have hired Goldman Sachs to sell a minority share in the team. Representatives from Goldman have met recently with several wealthy individuals in L.A. about the Chargers' stake, according to people familiar with the matter."

It continues: "Greg Carey, a managing director at Goldman and its point man on stadium and sports deals, confirmed that the company is working with the Chargers but has not been retained by the NFL or AEG (which is pursuing a downtown Los Angeles stadium) to find partners for a potential L.A. ownership group."

Fabiani was unavailable for comment Monday. He said he was traveling in New York City for meetings with the NFL.

Several NFL observers, including T.J. Simers and Sam Farmer of The Los Angeles Times and Peter King of Sports Illustrated, have suggested this month that the Chargers are atop a short list of squads able to relocate by 2015. Other potential candidates include the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Buffalo Bills, the Minnesota Vikings, the St. Louis Rams and the Oakland Raiders. Those names, of course, have been floated for years, and with a rough economy and the league's economic status up in the air because of ongoing labor negotiations, a new stadium isn't a sure thing.

Any move would be complicated by big questions about stadium financing, team ownership, National Football League owners approval and the potential for a players' lockout in 2011 that could lead to unplayed games and major financial uncertainty for what many consider the country's premier sport. The conversations about football returning to Los Angeles involve very preliminary plans for a $725 million stadium downtown and a separate proposal for an $800 million stadium 22 miles east of downtown in City of Industry.

About the potential for one team (or even two, mirroring the New Jersey model) to move to Los Angeles, the NFL FanHouse report says: "There are several NFL franchises that are candidates for relocation. The most-often discussed team is the San Diego Chargers, largely because the team has the easiest route out of its current stadium deal. The Chargers are literally just a check away from leaving Qualcomm Stadium: between February 1 and April 30 of every year from now through 2020, the Chargers can get out of their lease by writing a check to the city of San Diego – this year, the amount is about $26 million, and it decreases annually."